Monza: Bayliss' track

Monza is one of the tracks where Troy Bayliss manages to record his best performances. He is the all-time winner with 6 wins (three doubles in 2001, 2002 and 2006). Bayliss won all the last 6 races he contested in Monza. The only other results were a couple of fourth places in his debut year, 2000.

RECORD SPEEDS – The Superpole in Monza is the time where the highest average speeds are recorded. Every year the challenge is to push the limit forward. In 2006 Troy Corser managed to set the new record beating Edwards’ one that lasted since 2000. If in 2007 Superbikes keep the improvement rate constant as for the period 2005-2006, for the first time since 2000 an average speed above 197 km/h could be recorded. It’s since Hockenheim 2000 that this value isn’t reached, when Colin Edwards set Superpole at 203.723 km/h, all-time record for the Superbikes.
These are the 10 highest Superpole average speeds in Monza:

Year Rider Bike Time Speed (km/h)
2006 Troy Corser Suzuki 1'46"058 196,636
2000 Colin Edwards Honda 1'46"227 195,544
1999 Colin Edwards Honda 1'46"365 195,290
2003 Neil Hodgson Ducati 1'46"981 194,939
1998 Aaron Slight Honda 1'46"651 194,766
1997 Scott Russell Yamaha 1'46"884 194,342
2005 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki 1'47"439 194,108
1996 Pierfrancesco Chili Ducati 1'47"090 193,968
2002 Neil Hodgson Ducati 1'47"913 193,256
1995 Aaron Slight Honda 1'48"219 192,942


ANNIVERSARIES OF THE WEEK
• 7th of may – 1995: Hockenheim, first pole position for Troy Corser, first front row start for Pierfrancesco Chili. Yukio Kagayama’s birthday;
• 8th of may – 2005: Monza, first front row start for Karl Muggeridge, 25th podium for James Toseland (at Assen during the last race weekend he reached 50 podiums), 25th fastest lap for Suzuki set by Yukio Kagayama;
• 9th of may – 1993, Hockenheim: first win for Scott Russell;
• 10th of may – 1992, Hockenheim, tenth podium for Giancarlo Falappa, 25th podium for Doug Polen, 10th fastest lap for Kawasaki and 25th pole position for Ducati. 1996, Hockenheim: first pole position for Pierfrancesco Chili. 1998, Monza: 100th race start for Scott Russell and first win for Colin Edwards.


MILESTONES IN MONZA
• 1992 – first podium for Piergiorgio Bontempi. At the time the italian rider was at his 43rd start. Up to the end of his career (in 2004) Bontempi will pick up 2 other podium finishes (Spain and Portugal 1993) but he will never be able to win a race. At the moment he is the rider in WSBK™ history with most race starts (194) without a win.
• 1995 – 100th race start for Carl Fogarty (that will end the career with 221), first win and first fastest lap for Pierfrancesco Chili and first podium for Colin Edwards;
• 1996 – 10th fastest lap for Troy Corser;
• 1997 – 150th race start for Carl Fogarty;
• 1998 – 100th race start for Scott Russell, first win for Colin Edwards;
• 1999 – 150th win for Ducati by Carl Fogarty in race 2;
• 2000 – 25th pole for Honda (Colin Edwards);
• 2003 – 200th win for Ducati by Neil Hodgson, first fastest lap for Regis Laconi;
• 2004 – 10th podium for Regis Laconi;
• 2005 – 10th pole position and 25th fastest lap for Suzuki (Kagayama), 25th podium for James Toseland, first presence on the front row for Karl Muggeridge;
• 2006: first fastest lap for Alex Barros, 100th race start for Ivan Clementi.


HIGHS AND LOWS OF 2006 IN MONZA
• Double retirement for Yukio Kagayama and Max Neukirchner;
• Worst season result for Ruben Xaus, 15th in race 2;
• Best season qualifying result for Regis Laconi, fourth;
• Best season qualifying result for Roberto Rolfo, 11th, place obtained also in Losail.


MONZA PERSONAL SCOREBOARD
• Out of 10 qualifying rounds, Troy Corser, all-time leader for pole positions, managed to start from the first place only in 2006. Corser goes on the podium in Monza since 2005, before this string of podiums he managed to climb on the podium only in 1998, race 1;
• Noriyuki Haga qualified on the front row in Monza only in 2004 (fourth) out of 7 qualifying attempts; three times he dropped beyond the second row: 15th in 1998, 11th in 2005 and tenth in 2006;
• Regis Laconi qualifies constantly on the front row in Monza since 2003;
• Steve Martin managed to start within the first ten only in 2002 (9th). On the last couple of seasons he started 24th and 23rd. Martin collected 6 retirements out of 12 starts, the last four in sequence in both races in 2005 and 2006;
• James Toseland qualified on the front row only in 2002, in the last couple of seasons he started always from the 8th spot;
• Yukio Kagayama finished second in the first race contested in Monza in 2005 and then he always retired, three times in a row;
• Ruben Xaus scored always a retirement and a classification in every weekend he contested in Monza. His best result on the italian track is a 6th, in 2001 and 2002.


TIMES TO BEAT – These are the best times recorded by the Superbikes on the Monza track:

Make Time Year Model Rider Session
Suzuki 1’46”058 2006 GSX-R 1000 K6 T.Corser Superpole
Ducati 1’46”360 2006 999F06 T.Bayliss Superpole
Honda 1’46”511 2006 CBR 1000 RR A.Barros Superpole
Kawasaki 1’46"597 2006 ZX-10R R.Laconi Superpole
Yamaha 1’46”985 2006 YZF-R1 A.Pitt 2nd qual.

World SBK